Monday 25 August The UN condemned the detention of the ceasefire monitors in Unity State. East African leaders set a new deadline for the South Sudan peace talks. The warring parties in South Sudan signed a new peace deal. Salva Kiir agreed to have a prime minister position in the transitional government. Uganda and Ethiopia… Read more »
Seeing Contention in Black and White: Protest and Protest Policing
How does the police react to situations when protestors are of one ethnicity as opposed to another?
Illustration by Darick Ritter.
This Week in South Sudan – Week 34
Monday 18 August The UN demanded freedom of movement in South Sudan. The South Sudanese government accused the SPLA-in-Opposition of seeking support from Sudan. An SPLM-in-Opposition delegation arrived in Kampala to meet the Ugandan government. Seven people were killed in Lakes State. Tuesday 19 August The radio journalist detained in Juba last week was released. The… Read more »
“Double Effect” in Gaza
Recent weeks have shown us – yet again – how complex and terrible war is. We can all agree that terrorism and brutal fanaticism must be met with robust responses. But it is easy to say that one must do “something” (not to mention that one must do “more”). When we have to specify what that “something” or “more” should be, things immediately become more difficult.
It is true that the Hamas tunnels and rockets have created a clear need, and right, for Israel to defend itself. Photo: Flickr/Israel Defence Forces
Russian August in the Arctic
August is a particular month in the Russian political calendar: It was the Kursk day last week, and this week – it is day of tanks in Prague (21 August 1968) and the day of tanks in Moscow (19-22 August 1991). These days, tanks are rolling over the streets of Donetsk and Luhansk – but… Read more »
New Technology – Better Disaster Relief?
New technology has become central to relief efforts in humanitarian crises. This may make relief efforts more effective, but we can’t assume that the technology will have only a beneficial impact on the recipients of emergency aid.
Testing a new system of emergency assistance in Nepal. Recipients receive virtual vouchers via SMS message on mobile phones that can be used like cash at participating local stores. Photo: Suraj Shakya for Mercy Corps.
This Week in South Sudan – Week 33
Monday 11 August The US criticised the warring parties for their failure to meet the deadline for the formation of a transitional government. The SPLA-in-Opposition claimed to have killed five government soldiers in Unity State. The South Sudanese government accused the SPLA-in-Opposition of attacking Nasser (Upper Nile State). Machar concluded the talks with the Sudanese… Read more »
Research Apartheid
Academia has become its own battleground in the Israel-Palestine conflict.
The segregation of research on the Israel-Palestine conflict – or “research apartheid” – reinforces the parties’ reciprocal lack of understanding. Photo: Zoriah @ Flickr
As a scholar of the Israel-Palestine conflict, I usually leave the Ben Gurion Airport with vivid images of checkpoints, separation barriers, demolished houses, crammed refugee camps, poverty, settlements, and soldiers. Earlier this summer, before the war broke out in Gaza, I visited Israel for the first time without entering either the West Bank or East Jerusalem. Without directly witnessing the occupation, Israel appears as a different country. The Palestinian experience of the country is nowhere to be seen, whereas celebration of diversity and tolerance is everywhere. This is Israel as most of its Jewish inhabitants know it. If they hear the notion “Israeli apartheid”, they believe it is a foreign conspiracy against them. With the Palestinians out of the picture, it seems like Israel’s biggest conflict is domestic and centers on what it should mean to be a Jewish state.
Putin Picks the Worst of all Bad Choices
With the arrival of August, political expectations in Russia, informed by the long experience of setbacks and disasters, are turning negative. Second thoughts about the “victorious” war with Georgia that erupted six years ago blend with reflections on the centennial anniversary of World War I (Nezavisimaya Gazeta, August 6). At the same time, liberal-minded pundits remind the public about Russia’s 1998 fiscal default, while arguing that in a globalized world the most devastating battles are fought in the financial realm (Novaya Gazeta, August 6). Whereas, the smoke coming from the sunflower fields in eastern Ukraine, where the Moscow-backed separatist war smolders on, turns many minds from virtual to real-life battles as premonitions of a Russian intervention keep recurring. Against these forebodings, President Vladimir Putin gave marching orders last week not to Russian troops but to customs officials, imposing a comprehensive ban on imports of agricultural products from the United States, the European Union, Australia, Canada and Norway (see EDM, August 7; Polit.ru, August 7; Kommersant, August 8).
For the full text, see EDM, August 11, 2014.
The Kursk day
Tommorow is indeed the Kursk day – it was on August 12, 2000 that the proud but unfortunate submarine sunk after an explosion on board during exercises in the Barents Sea. This picture of its crew (from a BBC documentary) marks a moment of remembrace. It is rather striking that on the eve of this day,… Read more »